"This is the end. Cassian. No one can save you anymore. Are you happy?" A small voice can be heard among the falling debris and the flaming wall. A woman is wielding a sword while sauntering toward the palace's main hall.

"I am. I'm happy, Juliette." A man replied as he looked towards the countless stars above him. He looks so lonely yet so happy, despite the tragedies that are currently happening. Juliette gritted her teeth and let the tears fall down her cheeks.

"So why-" She doesn't understand. It should be over. They both should have a happy ending. Isn't it always like that? The female protagonist travels back in time to get revenge, find a new love, and live happily ever after. This fairy tale should have a happy ending.

"…" The man says that he is happy, so why did he share the same sight as she did? He is standing in the empty hall. Alone while looking towards the sky. He looks so lonely and yet free. Ethan told her everything. Everything this man had done to become a tyrant.

She can't help but ask. This man is a very human-like vampire. She can see drops of dry tears in the corner of his eyes. Juliette knows that this man loves humans more than anything else. But she never expected that his love for humans would transcend the worth of his own life. "Why are you crying?"

The man dares to laugh and smile back at her. The pair of the purple iris is looking back at her. She used to adore the purple that reminded her of Wisteria. It looks cold. "I'm not. Juliette. You know this is the best choice."

"This is unfair." Juliette choked on her tears. She grips her sword tighter as she glances toward the same window. The smell of ashes filled her nose as she could see that humans were winning. A vampire is not this weak. She knows that. She lived next to the vampire king in her first life. The vampire has more artillery than this. She knows it.

The man just laughs again and stares at her with a sad smile. His silver hair reaches down to his back. She remembers the first time they met. This man's hair only reached his shoulders. Years have already passed by. "Life is unfair. If it only takes the life of a single vampire monarch to eradicate the vampire purebloods, humanity will gain their salvation."

Is he joking? He doesn't have to sit on the throne! They can get another pureblood vampire and kill him instead. Just like that traitor, her former husband. Thinking about the nasty man who deceived her, she let out a heavy breath. "We can kill Damien."

"The crown of progenitor only follows the holder's last wish. The moment I take my final breath, I will wish for its demise." He is talking in a monotone, flat voice as if nothing is wrong with it.

He is stating a fact about the thousands of years of vampire king crown history that will fulfill the wish of a dying vampire monarch. What Juliette can hear is the fact that the man she cherished is fine with dying on behalf of humanity's freedom.

"What about me? About us! If you grant them salvation, who will grant it for you?" Humanity. Humans, humans, and vampires again. Can't it just be them? Their blooming loves, their memories, and their connection. Is it impossible for them to turn back and leave everything behind? He is not the vampire monarch, and she is not the Humanity Commander.

"Juliette. Ethan has told everything to you, hasn't he?" The voice snapped her out of her thoughts. This man was right. His mentor, Ethan Solaris, has told her about the 'R' project. He warns him not to fall in love with this man. It's not because he is afraid that this man will hurt her like Damien did. It's because this man is prepared to die.

Everything is coming to an end. So where is it? The chapter of her happy ending? If the people she is fighting for can have their happy ending, why can't she get one? Is it because she is the heroine of a tragic novel?

"My uncle must have told you too. Someone needs to carry that torch. Maybe it's true that you were blinded by Damien's love before. But now it's different. You are no longer a prisoner of your wings. You can choose your destiny." Lucius Noctis is the former vampire monarch. He is aware of Damien's infidelity and her return. But it was not him but the person in front of her who did everything.

Even so, she has to ask. Can her existence outweigh his duty? She knows his answer, but she wants to ask. "I love you. Isn't this reason enough?"

"Juliette. I must die. I admit. Falling in love with you is a mistake. Our love is a mistake. Fix it, Juliette, and kill that emotion. You were just confused.

You longed for an ally you could trust. Someone who can carry your burden with you. It's not love." Mistake. He always says that love is the most precious thing that he ever encounters. Now he's calling it a mistake!

Juliette knows what the man is talking about. But he is wrong. She knows the difference between love and gratitude. If only he could convince this man. Juliette knows why. This man never expected to be loved. He loathed his existence. "I'm not confused. I love you. Now you want me to kill you? The man that I love? Cassian please."

How can she forget the person who is responsible for her hatred toward the vampire clans? That's why she knew the reason this person couldn't accept her love was because he was a sinner who destroyed her childhood. "What about your family, then? Juliette. It was I who destroyed your family. Can you give a chance to the man who destroys the entire Esclaire Clan?"

Even so, it's not his fault. It's not his! Juliette feels nauseous. Her kind grandfather's wrinkled hand is no longer there. Her uncle's soft smiles and her mother's warm embraces. That's why she tries to deny it. Just like Damien, she wants to close her eyes. She wants to tell him nothing is wrong with it. "What nonsense are you spouting? This is not funny, Cassian!"

Yet Cassian always finds a reason to drag her back to reality with a colder response. Something that Lucius told her. The reason why he never wants Cassian to inherit his title and chooses his incompetent son instead "This is not a joke, Juliette. I'm the vampire who took everything from you. Including Istria Liliana, Your mother. I'm far older than Damien and Lucius. Far older than a vampire in this generation."

"Cassian, this is not funny. Stop this nonsense, Cassian! Do-" Even so, she wants to keep denying it. This is not over with Esclaire's family revenge. This is about humanity's freedom. But both of them will be achieved if Cassian is dead, so there is no reason for her not to kill him. The weight of the entire race and her oath of revenge. Does it outweigh her feelings?

"Yes, I do. I need a strong candidate to kill me. 'You will be killed by the person that you love." That is what the white Demon told me. I've longed for death." Yet Cassian's words dunked her into the icy water. Chills go down her spine. The prophecy. She will kill him. She has to kill him, but this is still wrong.

"Hey-" Juliette wanted to tell him that this was nonsense, but she saw Cassian's eyes. Its joy. Pure joy and relief clash in his eyes. This is Cassian true feeling. He walks slowly toward the camellia garden. His eyes show longing. He is looking at her, but not at her. It's always like this. She always feels uncomfortable.

"Juliette. This is my salvation. I was planning on using you, but in the end, you managed to make my frozen heart melt. At that time, you were walking next to my brother. I didn't see that I would fall in love at first sight. I see someone who has the chance to kill me." He smiles as he crouches down next to the pink camellias. He looks free.

"…" Juliette is lost in her thoughts because she remembers his first question. Under the dim chandelier, he asks her 'Can you kill me?' she replies, 'Yes'.

"The strong and determined woman who has what it takes to take me down A person that can fulfill my wish for eternal slumber. That person is you." This man asks again after the assassination attempt. 'Can you become stronger?' she answers without hesitation and kicks him in the shin. She says 'yes'.

Juliette realized it. Since the beginning, this man has set eyes on her. Not because of how pretty she is. Not because she is an elegant woman. It took her strength and determination to kill him and eradicate vampires.

"You must see the fragmented future too. The first thing that you will do is take down Nania and Damien. You will find out the truth: the vampire race is preparing for war. Juliette, just like I'm not your first love, you're not mine either.

That's why I know how you feel the moment we meet. Those feelings are gratitude." Gratitude. The word stuck in her throat. She can accept everything, but not this.

"Shut up." She can't accept it, as the man denies her feelings and loves her.

"Her name is Marianne. She resembles you a lot. She looks like the canary in the cage. Beautiful and elegant." Marianne. The name keeps whispering in her ears, but it's not jealousy but suffocation.

Because she knows Marianne is her ancestor. It's different if she thought that he was looking at a replacement; she can feel that it was completely wrong.

"Stop-" She can feel it. It guilt. Countless years of guilt led this man to loathe love itself.

"I love both of your eyes. Despite being chained and locked away from her freedom, she still smiles with warmth. Despite Damien's choice to abandon you, you choose to keep a blind eye until your final breath. Both of you were living in a cage called love."

"Cassian you-"

"But you're unique. You, unlike her, chose to fight back. The hero in gleaming armor who will bring humanity freedom. Marianne informed me about vampires. She chose vampires because, despite being a human, she was completely blinded by my brother's love." Yes. Marianne refused to exterminate vampires and instead drafted a covenant to preserve the Esclaire clan's future generations, although she never considered vengeance.

Her story overlapped with Marianne's, but she chose a completely different route. "Please stop Cassian."

Juliette didn't realize it, but she was only a step away from Cassian. The man touches her black hair and kisses the tip of it. "I slaughter her entire family, but she just kneels in the temple. Saying she forgives me. But you are different. This sword is pointing at my neck. It was you who would kill me. I realize it. I loved you more than Marianne."

Juliette woke up to reality as she saw the sword resting upon the man's neck. Cassian just smiles as he reads her thoughts. Juliette is colder than Marianne. This is why this man loves her more.

She forced herself to smile as she swung the sword with her right hand. Tears stream down her cheeks as she glances towards the man. Once again, she asks. "Cassian. Is this what you wished for?"

Cassian smiled and closed his eyes. Juliette knows it will be the last time she sees the purple iris. Yet her hand grips the sword with determination. She can hear Cassian's words that filled her with relief as she took his final breath. "Yes, Juliette Esclaire. Thank you for ending my nightmare."